Customer Reviews

New York

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you are interested in a thorough but entertaining history of New York City this is as good as it gets. Ric Burns provides plenty of details but doesn't forget that part of the reason viewers are watching is to have some fun too. Eight DVDS may seem like too much but with a city like New York it is surprising how quickly the show passes by, this collection is large enough to give you a serious history of the topic without getting too complicated. If you are looking for a travel guide to NYC this isn't for you, if you are a sports fan look elsewhere, don't expect a guide to theatre or restaurants either. This DVD set is meant as a visual history course of America's, if not the world's, most fascinating city.

This is the definitive gift for anyone who loves New York City. The series is presented in easily digestible pieces and all the episodes draw you into a period in NYC's history and give you a good understanding of what makes the City so unique. The final episode, about the building and the destruction of the World Trade Center, will touch your heart as well as your mind.

Perhaps the very best documentary on any subject ever produced...a gargantuan, incomprehensible effort, amassing a haunting and romantic archive of original film footage, photographs, print, vintage cartography, and priceless commentary by various cultural luminaries and historians. Spellbinding from first episode to the last...I found myself not wanting it to end. The series presents a broad tapestry of New York's history with an emphasis on the indomitable and resilient human spirit above all else. Ric Burns succeeds with a definitive masterpiece and tribute to New York in a unique style that captures one's imagination while tugging at the heart. If history had been taught with this medium when I was in school, it would have made the difference between passing marginally or with excellence. This DVD set is a treasure and one which I will revisit again and again. I highly recommend the amended version with 8 DVD discs, including the final post-9/11 disc.

The life of any great city exists on three levels - social, political and cultural. What is surprising about this documentary is how well it succeeds at presenting the first two aspects of New York, while failing so miserably at addressing the third. While I agree with Roger Ebert that a film should be evaluated on the basis of what it intended to do and not on what one thinks it should have done, it is difficult not to be critical of this omission, especially in a film with a running time approaching 18 hours.

What Ric Burns and his team have done here is present an exhaustive history of a great American city, with particular focus on the political figures at the center of it all. Peter Stuyvesant, Boss Tweed, F.H. LaGuardia, Robert Moses and countless others are given extensive coverage, as are the lives of the immigrant population that were affected, for better or worse, by these political giants. We see the various crises, upheavals and tragedies that went on to shape the city, and how the lives of its residents adapted, often with great difficulty, to the city's changes and growth.

And yet those who know New York as a center of American culture will quickly notice something missing in this film. We see the great influx of immigrants but we learn little to nothing about how these different cultures went on to form the great melting pot. The creation of ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown and Little Italy are given only a passing mention. New York institutions like the Italian market and the Jewish deli are never seen, despite New York's position as the multicultural food capital of the world. The great Gilded Age of New York, as recounted by literary giants like Henry James and Edith Wharton, is virtually ignored. (Burns is somewhat more successful with F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Jazz Age".)

Then there is the crucial arts and entertainment aspect. The development of Broadway is not here, nor is the early motion picture industry, which existed in NYC before anyone had heard of Hollywood. The great literary circles like American Bloomsbury and the Beats are never mentioned, nor are the many famous literary journals that followed them. Greenwich Village is never looked at. We do not see Yankee Stadium or the many historic events that took place there. The great museums, theaters and concert halls are passed over. We do not meet (with a few exceptions) the great writers, artists, musicians or actors, or the architectural geniuses who created Central Park, Grand Central Station, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the New York Public Library and the many other famous structures the city is known for. We learn little about the development of big-city publishing, the fashion industry or, omission of all omissions, the birth of radio and television.

Granted, any of these topics alone could fill a lengthy documentary, but the fact that they are barely mentioned in a film of this length is hard to overlook.

I give the film three stars because what it does, it does well. I just wish that after investing eighteen hours of my time, I had a better understanding of why New York holds such a high place in American culture. As it is, I feel like I attended a very long history lesson, much of which will be forgotten shortly after the exam is over.

As a lover of both film and history, this is undoubtably the best documentary I've ever seen. I was awed at Ric Burns ability to make the city a living breathing character with as much trials and tribulations as any great character in history. At times I forgot I was watching a documentary, because I was so dramatically tuned into the story.

With ample time devoted to it's many evolutions, each chapter is both informative and facinating. I have watched the entire series many times, and I am always amazed at how emotionally moving the legacy of this great city really is.

For the record, I have never been to New York, but I feel I will have a tremendous historic and cultural insight, when I eventually do.

My dad has always been a huge history buff. When I moved to New York a few years ago, he became very interested in the history of the city, it's subways, etc. This past Christmas, I bought this collection for him. My father, who can't sit through a movie longer than an hour without falling asleep, watched the entire collection over the course of a week and is now watching other Ric Burns collections. Now, both dad and I know more about my new home and I have a running order for next Christmas!

For those who love NY, this series will make you fall in love with NY all over again. Its an easy, entertaining way to get a rich history of NY.

I'm from Germany and here we can't buy this collection (and if, then only with 5 instead of 8 DVD).
I'm very happy, that i found this collection by amazom.com because the story is very interesting and especially the eigth spezial DVD about making "The center of the world" is great.

By the way: I use amazon about eight years and this is my first review (I hope my little english is adequate)

Born and raised in the Big Apple, I originally rented this series which I had not seen before. I was enchanted and discovered so much about the city I loved and yet that I never knew. I had to have my own copy. Ric Burns did a wonderful job,(as usual) with just enough fact to explain situations yet tempting enough to urge you to seek more. I was also pleased that an 8th disk covering 9/11 had been added since that wound pierced the heart of anyone who loves New York.I shared some disks with friends ( also New Yorkers) over Thanksgiving and it was universally agreed we would get together again and often to see it over and over. Thanks to all whose efforts combined to bring to life the city: its evils and humanity, its sorrows and elations, its great triumphs and ridiculous mistakes, its often unbelievable past and the great hope for its future.

One of the earlier reviewers said that this isn't a travel guide and they are right, but it is a must see for anyone truly wanting to look into the heart of soul of NYC before visiting. I am very glad I watched this before my first visit. It's entertaining, expansive in its chronicling of events and the various eras and puts NYC in its historical context in world and American history; warts and all. The 17 hours flies. The score I found to be a highlight also.